Senate declares that horses are not naturally dangerous

Published 9:49 am, Tuesday, May 6, 2014

HARTFORD -- The Senate early this morning unanimously approved legislation aimed at saving thousands of Connecticut horse owners from higher insurance costs by declaring that equines are not naturally dangerous animals.

The bill, which had previously passed the House unanimously, heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy who introduced the legislation and said this morning that he looks forward to signing it.

The bill was in response to a recent state Supreme Court case involving Scuppy, a horse at Timothy Astriab's Glendale Farms in Milford that bit a five-year-old boy in his father's arms back in May of 2006. The father won permission from the high court to take a negligence case back to the Superior Court level.

Many owners among the 52,000 horses in Connecticut were scared by the ruling that declared horses are inherently dangerous. The legislation says that the presumption that ponies, donkeys, mules and horses are not dangerous can be refuted case-by-case, based on past behavior and injuries that may have resulted.

The legislation would also prevent state courts from holding horse owners strictly liable for any damages, decreasing their exposure to court-ordered civil damages. The high court ruled that owners have to use "reasonable care" in restraining horses.

"With final passage secured by the state legislature today, I look forward to signing this bill, which has been a top concern to many horse owners and handlers, and our state's associated agriculture industry," Malloy said in a statement. "The agriculture sector of Connecticut's economy has been growing significantly over the past couple of years, and we need to ensure that the laws in our state statutes encourage this growth."